


Texting Leads to...

by Abyssinian



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-04
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-03 10:13:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1740923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abyssinian/pseuds/Abyssinian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cora starts texting Stiles after she left with Derek.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Texting

Cora had started texting him shortly after she and her brother had left Beacon Hills. Just little messages, how he was, the pack, his father, nothing really. She answered his own responses fairly quickly, most of the time, sometimes it took her a few days. She never revealed where they were and barely mentioned Derek. Stiles wasn’t entirely sure why she had started the line of communication, he had helped saving her life, but they hadn’t exactly been friends. Maybe they could have been, if they hadn’t left and maybe Cora tried to get there now. Stiles didn’t know why, they left and for all he knew, they wouldn’t come back and that hurt, because they hadn’t even said goodbye. The alpha pack and the darach had been dealt with and they had been gone just like that.  
It had started tentative, slow.  
‘How are you?’  
Stiles had stared at the text for about ten minutes from the unknown number, before he answered.  
‘Who is this?’  
The reply was instant. ‘Cora.’  
The boy had blinked furiously, confusion wasn’t even close to what he was feeling. He waited almost a whole day, until he responded.  
‘I’m fine. You?’  
‘Good.’  
It was short, but it put him at ease, knowing that they were okay.

They spent months, exchanging little nothings, never anything truly meaningful. As far as he knew, he was the only one in contact with the Hale siblings, well Cora at least, but he had a sense that Derek was aware of their communication.  
A few weeks before spring break he slipped up. It had been the worst nightmare yet and he had woken with a start, sweat soaking his shirt and pearling on his face. It was three in the morning, but sleep wouldn’t come again. Without thinking, he grabbed his phone and typed out a text, sending it, before he could think better of it. Sleep deprived brain be damned.  
‘I have nightmares.’  
“Can you at least turn the ringer off at night?” Derek growled at his sister.  
“Sorry.” She didn’t really mean it.  
She tensed, when she read the message and her brother could feel it. He looked over questioningly. Cora slipped from her bed to his and showed him what Stiles had written.  
‘About what?’  
It had only taken a few short minutes.  
‘The darkness.’  
He was too tired to elaborate, but Stiles wasn’t sure if they knew. He wasn’t sure if they knew Scott, Allison and himself had died to find their parents and were left with a darkness around their hearts. The three of them didn’t talk about it and he couldn’t tell how it affected the other two, if at all. Stiles had nightmares and they were getting worse.  
‘Do you remember details?’  
‘No. Never. Just this darkness, squeezing my heart.’  
‘Can you sleep?’  
‘Some, but it’s getting harder.’  
‘Try.’  
And he did, he tried and eventually succeeded to get a few more hours of sleep.

‘Will you ever come back?’ Stiles didn’t dare say home, because to them it hadn’t been in a long time.  
‘Maybe, but not yet.’  
‘I miss the two of you.’ He admitted, because he did. Scott was all about pack and learning to be a good alpha, the Argents were working with him, Isaac was a good little beta and Lydia was learning more about banshees and controlling her ability. Stiles had no one left.  
‘You, too.’  
Even though they were god knew where, it meant a lot.  
‘Do you have plans for spring break?’  
‘No.’  
‘Are you mobile and can get away?’  
‘Yes. Cora, what’s this about?’  
‘Do you want to meet us?’  
‘Yes.’ He had typed and sent the response in a second, no thinking required. He so desperately wanted to see them again. He had asked his dad that night, if it was okay for him to go on a little vacation during his break. The sheriff had reluctantly agreed to the trip and also not to tell anybody where Stiles was going and who he was meeting. His so called friends wouldn’t notice his absence for a while anyway.


	2. Road Trip

It was the last week before spring break and Stiles felt lighter than he had in a long time, the nightmares weren’t as bad and the night to Friday he actually had a good night’s sleep, so he had no reservations to driving through the night to be in Salt Lake City bright and early.  
He arrived at the motel at seven and the moment he got out the Hale siblings stood a few feet before him. He took a sharp breath in surprise and then let a grin take his face over slowly. Cora moved first to hug him tightly. The girl stepped back and looked him over, but didn’t let him see her concern.  
“Hi. Did you drive through the night?”  
“Yeah, I wanted to be here as soon as possible.” He admitted and let his eyes drift to Derek, who smiled at him softly. Without his permission his body moved to hug the older man, clinging to him for dear life. The wolf hugged him back, but threw a concerned look at his sister. Stiles’ thin frame had lost weight and he had shadows under his eyes.  
“Stiles.” He said softly.  
“Just let me…please.” His voice was shaky.  
Derek ran his hand up and down his back soothingly. “It’s okay. You hungry?”  
Stiles nodded against his neck and let himself be guided to the SUV. Derek dropped him into the passenger seat and Cora got in the back.  
“Where are we going?” He asked confused.  
“We found this amazing place for breakfast yesterday, we are treating you.” Cora had let her arms snake around his neck from behind, speaking into his ear and drumming her hands lightly on his chest. Stiles relaxed into the seat, he had had no idea how much he had missed being touched. After a five minute ride the girl jumped out of the car, before her brother could cut the engine and opened Stiles’ door and dragged him out by the hand. She didn’t let go, until they were seated in a corner booth. Derek had chuckled lowly to himself and followed the two teens. He sat himself opposite them and nodded at the waitress, when she handed them the menus. After they had ordered Derek fixed Stiles with a mild stare.  
“Why are you here, Stiles?”  
“’cause I wanted to be.” He looked down at his hands, not seeing the dirty look Cora threw her brother.  
“I mean you drove nine straight hours through the night, just to get here.” No matter how mad Cora was with him, he needed to know.  
The human finally looked up, locking eyes with him. “I missed you.”  
He didn’t have time to respond, because their food came. Only when he stared at his chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and milkshake he realized how hungry he was. After about half an hour of companionable silence while they ate, Stiles looked up again, to catch Derek watching him with a soft smile on his lips.  
“What?”  
“Nothing. Eat up, we have plans.”  
“We do?”  
“Of course we do.” Cora cheered happily.  
The older Hale paid and they got back into the car, for the second part of their ride. They stopped at a beautiful park with a large picnic area and an amazing view of the lake.  
Cora let the two lounge on the blanket by themselves for a while. She had bought herself a camera and was eager to try out a new lens she had gotten the day before. Derek lay on his back with his arms behind his head and his eyes closed, while Stiles sat beside him cross-legged.  
Stiles poked him into his side gently. “Did you really want me to come, or did you give in to Cora?”  
“It was my idea to ask you.”  
“It was?”  
The werewolf let his left arm sink to his side and turned his head slightly to look at the boy. “Yeah.”  
“Why?”  
“You sounded like you needed a break.”  
“Yeah.”  
“Stiles, what’s going on? You barely smell like wolf, you lost weight and you don’t sleep.”  
“They are busy.”  
“Too busy to be your friends?”  
Stiles shrugged. He started to play with Derek’s fingers absentmindedly.  
“I told you why I don’t sleep and I’m not really hungry.”  
“You are always hungry.” He tried to lighten the mood, which backfired at him.  
“No.”  
“You fixed your jeep.”  
“Yeah. How else am I gonna get around?”  
“In a car that doesn’t need fixing every few miles.”  
“She was my mom’s.”  
Derek gave his hand a gentle stroke with his thumb. Before the situation could get any more tense, Cora swooped in draping herself over Stiles back and shoulder. She pecked the human’s cheek and stared down at her brother. Stiles had grabbed Derek’s hand tightly in shock of the sudden contact.  
“Cora.” He scowled at her for startling Stiles.  
“It’s okay. Wouldn’t be the first time a werewolf scares the living shit out of me, right?” It had worked, the tension was gone and they had gotten at least a faint smile out of him.  
“No.” Derek conceded with a smirk.  
Stiles still hadn’t let go of Derek’s hand, but proceeded to grab Cora’s with his free hand.  
“Thank you.” He looked down into the multicolored pale eyes of the older man.  
“For what?” Derek asked softly.  
“Letting me come. Where have you been all this time?”  
“We moved around a lot, sightseeing, getting to know each other again.” The girl said beside his ear.  
“Sounds nice.”  
“It is. And for the next two weeks you’re coming with, if you don’t get sick of us.”  
“I don’t think I will. Get sick of you that is.”  
“Good, because we intend to keep you.” With that Cora was off again.  
Stiles finally let go of his hand and lay on his stomach facing away from Derek over the lake. Soon he drifted off to sleep. He had put his phone beside him, so it wouldn’t poke into his thigh and when it rang an hour later the wolf snatched it, before it could wake him up.  
“Hello, sheriff.” He greeted the older man in moving away from the blanket.  
“Derek?”  
“Yes, sorry, Stiles fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake him.”  
“Thank you, he needs all the sleep he can get these days. He thinks I don’t know he’s not sleeping.”  
Derek sighed. “How does Scott not see what’s going on with him?”  
“He’s barely here anymore and I don’t think they see much of each other in school either.”  
“I thought they are supposed to be best friends?”  
“They are, but since Scott became the alpha he’s always busy.”  
“That’s what Stiles said.”  
“I initially didn’t want to let him go.” The older man admitted.  
“He’ll be fine with us, don’t worry.”  
“I’m his father, I always worry about him.”  
“With him I figure that’s a given.”  
“It is. Anyway, I’m relieved he got there okay.”  
“He did. We went for breakfast and now we’re at the lake.”  
“Sounds good. Please tell him to call me back, when he gets the chance.”  
“Will do. Bye sheriff.”  
“Bye.”  
Derek went back to the blanket, put the phone back beside the boy and lay down again. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked Stiles over, thin legs, narrow hips, sharp bones sticking out everywhere, with little muscle to soften the edges. Cora came back and gently lay her camera to the side and draped herself over Derek’s side under his arm and looked at the human as well.  
“Can we even help him?” She asked quietly.  
“I hope so. Did you take some good pictures?”  
“Still figuring this thing out, but I think I have a few worth keeping.” She took the camera and flipped through the pictures. “This one for instance.” His sister showed him one, where Stiles was playing with his fingers. It looked intimate and it kind of had been.  
Stiles woke up disoriented, but relaxed, as soon as he turned his head and saw the Hale siblings.  
“What are you looking at?”  
“Just some pictures.” The younger werewolf showed him and he instantly blushed. “What are you so embarrassed about, it’s cute.” Derek growled softly at being called cute.  
“Your father called.” Stiles’ head snapped up to him.  
“Did you answer?”  
“I did. That okay?”  
“Yeah. I should have checked in hours ago.”  
“You can call him later, for now he knows you got here safely.”  
“’kay.”

A little later they ate sandwiches for lunch and water from the cooler they had brought. Stiles had actually been hungry enough to eat two, despite not having done anything all morning.  
“Can we go into the city? Or did you already go?”  
“No, we did some other stuff yesterday.”

They strolled through the busy streets. The two males had taken the girl in the middle, each one arm around her, with hers around their waists. Stiles smiled and laughed and looked relaxed. When he had arrived he had been tense, now he looked better. Cora had dragged them into a small boutique and let them wait, while she tried a few things on.  
“Have you told Scott where you were going?” Derek asked as Cora was in the changing room.  
“No, they won’t miss me anyway.”  
“Stiles.”  
“I asked him if he was in contact with you once, around Christmas.”  
“He isn’t.”  
“He asked if I was.”  
“Did you tell him?”  
“Hell no.”  
“You lied?”  
“Didn’t have to. Because I wasn’t in contact with you, only with Cora.”  
“Nice loophole.” Derek chuckled.  
“Why would I tell him, he doesn’t care anyway.”  
Derek didn’t get a chance to respond, because Cora paraded out from behind the curtain and twirled around in front of them. “What do you think?”  
“It’s beautiful and very not you.” Stiles smiled.  
“Thank you, that’s what I was going for.”  
The ankle long dress flowed along her slender frame.  
“Derek?”  
“What he said.”  
“You’re so cheap, Derek.”  
“What? Stiles’s right. You should get it, then you actually look like a girl for once.”  
She punched him in the arm and Stiles laughed. At that moment it hit Derek how much he had missed the boy, his laugh, his smart mouthing, the way he looked at him. The next realization was, that he was completely and utterly doomed.  
Despite his snide remark Cora took the dress and Derek generously got to carry the bag. He kissed his sister’s temple when they were back on the street and had resumed their alignment with the female in the middle.  
For dinner they had gotten takeout to take back to the motel, which they spread out on the table and each took what they wanted. Stiles of course took the curly fries all for himself. Derek snatched one and got a glare for that which held no heat.  
“You want it back?”  
“Yes they’re mine.”  
“Okay.” He moved his hand towards Stiles’ mouth and the wide eyed disbelieving stare was worth it. “Or maybe not.” He pulled his hand back and ate the fry.  
Stiles gaped at him and then lunged at him. Derek was so surprised that he lost his precarious balance on the edge of the bed, which landed them both on the floor. Luckily the human on top, otherwise the wolf would have crushed him. He groaned at the impact, while Cora laughed so hard, she had tears in her eyes.  
“Ow.” Stiles exclaimed.  
Derek lifted his head to look at Stiles, whose face was way too close for comfort. “How could you have possibly hurt yourself?”  
“I hit my elbow.” He whined for emphasis.  
“Of course you did.” He laid his head back on the floor and sighed, with the boy still on top of him. He breathed deeply a few times. “Come on, get up, before the last of your fries vanish.”  
“What?”  
Cora had used her chance at unguarded curly fries and now her brother was the one laughing. Stiles was pushing himself up to get off the older man when he suddenly looked back down with a serious expression on his face.  
“I have never heard you laugh before.” He whispered in a small voice.  
Derek stopped and stared back at him.  
“You’ve been with him for a year and a half and he hasn’t laughed once?”  
“There wasn’t much to laugh about…” He was still whispering.  
Stiles got up off the floor and stood awkwardly beside Derek. The girl noticed how none of the two men had objected to her practically calling them a couple, but pushed that thought aside in favor of hugging the human. Stiles melted into her hug. She threw her brother a what-the-fuck-look, when he got to his feet, which he could only answer with a defeated shake of his head. They really hadn’t had anything they could have laughed about, him the least.  
“I’m gonna take a shower.” Derek said quietly, to have a reason to leave the room. He came back out ten minutes later, to Cora picking at the last of the fries and Stiles curled up on his bed with his face mushed in the pillow, sleeping.  
“He’s out cold.” His sister whispered.  
“Good, he needs it.”  
“What about you?”  
“I’ll just sleep on the floor. It’s fine.”

Some time after four in the morning Stiles woke up, for once not from a nightmare. In the little light that fell through the curtain, he could make out the form of the werewolf on the floor beside himself. He scooted over to the edge and hung his head and arm over, so he could reach Derek’s hand with his own. He twined two of their fingers and fell back asleep. The older man stirred at seven, unconsciously closing his fingers around the boy’s. He came fully awake with a low growl, when he felt the crick in his neck and rolled on his back with a sigh. He felt the contact. Derek let his gaze wander from their joined hands to Stiles’ head, hanging from the bed. He shook his head lightly and gently pushed Stiles back on the bed completely. Cora was awake as well. They got dressed and went outside not to disturb the human. Derek rolled his head and cracked his spine.  
“I should stop sleeping on the floor.”  
“Why did you?”  
“Because the lady and the human occupied the beds.” He answered pointedly.  
“Pretty sure he wouldn’t have minded sharing.”  
His head whipped around to her and he fixed her with a glare.  
“What? When will you admit that you missed him? A lot. I’m not blind, I see how you look at him. There is nothing wrong with liking him.”  
“I can’t. Look where that got me in the past.”  
“Well, I admit that your taste in women is downright horrible, but Stiles isn’t like that and you know him. He’s an adorable, clumsy human. And he needs someone. Why can’t that be you?”  
“What about you? Why did you start texting him?”  
“Do you even realize how much you are talking about him? I wanted to know why? For that I needed to get to know him.”  
“You knew him.”  
“Not really.”  
“Derek?”  
“Oh yeah and it’s not me he’s calling for, when he wakes up alone.”  
He huffed annoyed and went inside. “Right here. You sleep okay?”  
“Yeah, sorry you had to sleep on the floor. I’ll get my own room from now on.”  
“Wasn’t that bad. We wanted to get breakfast and then start east.”  
“What’s east?”  
“Denver?”  
“Sounds good. Give me 15?”  
“Sure, we’ll be outside.”

Without explanation Derek got into the passenger side of the jeep, when they started their journey.  
“Just follow Cora.” The wolf leant back and closed his eyes.  
It was three hours before he opened them again. Stiles hadn’t said a word the whole time, the only noise coming from the engine and the soft music playing on the radio. Stiles had followed Cora into the parking lot of a roadside diner.  
“Where are we?”  
“Middle of freakin’ nowhere.” The boy answered sarcastically. “Hungry, though.”  
“Good.”  
They left an hour later and stopped again in a town called Craig to stay the night. It was only three in the afternoon and they wandered the valley along the river, Cora taking pictures and the two men talking or walking side by side in silence.  
Stiles enjoyed his company, he could already feel his heart getting lighter. His pale skin started to develop a light tan, not that he would ever actually get real color, but less pale he could work with, because his current shade of white was bordering sickly. They had been walking for two hours and though the wolves didn’t feel it, the human was exhausted, so he tripped over the next available object and would have violently connected to the ground, if Derek hadn’t grabbed him by the arm and pulled up and towards himself.  
“Thank you.” Stiles gasped, staring into the other man’s eyes.  
“We should get back to the motel.”  
Luckily they had been walking in a circle and the car was only another 15 minutes away. The motel was quite nice and this time they had two rooms, one for the siblings and a single for the boy.  
“You wanna go out to eat? I saw a small Italian place on the way. We could walk there.” Cora suggested.  
“Okay.”  
Stiles sat in his room and checked messages on his computer and made a quick call to his dad, to let him know, he was alright and where they were headed. There was an email from Scott which he ignored, one from Lydia that he answered and one from Isaac, he didn’t bother answering either.  
The food was good, but Stiles wasn’t very hungry and ate very little and went to bed early, when they got back. Derek was about to fall asleep around midnight, when he heard it. Low whimpers from the room two doors down, thrashing and moans. He was up and out the room in seconds and was banging at the boy’s door, just as he screamed.  
“Stiles, open the door.”  
The werewolf was seconds away from breaking the door down, when it flew open and with it the human into his arms. Derek moved them back in and closed the door, while he tried to calm Stiles down. Stiles was flailing and gasping for air. The wolf’s hands were all over him, trying to find a hold that would immobilize him. He finally had one arm around Stiles waist and the other under his arm placing his large hand on the base of his neck pressing the thinner frame into his own.  
“It’s okay, it was just a dream.”  
The deep low voice got through to his jumbled mind. “Derek…” The flailing stopped and Stiles grabbed at the older man, hair and the fabric of his shirt. Stiles took deep breaths to steady himself, but couldn’t stop a few tears from rolling down his cheeks, dripping onto Derek’s skin.  
“I’m here.” The wolf whispered into Stiles’ ear. He took Stiles’ right hand and pressed it to his chest over his heart. “I’m here.”  
Very slowly Stiles managed to calm down and loosen his grip on the older man. “I’m sorry.”  
“Never be sorry for having nightmares.” Derek whispered, still right beside his ear.  
“Can you stay here?” He looked up at him, hopeful.  
“Yeah.”

In the morning Derek woke up to the awareness that his sister was in the room with them. When he opened his eyes she was right beside the bed grinning maniacally at him and holding the display of her camera for him to see the picture, she obviously had just taken. A picture of Stiles curled up into Derek’s chest and his arms protectively around him. He glared at her, then growled, which woke the younger man.  
“Morning sleepyhead.” Cora said cheerfully and kissed Stiles’ cheek.  
“Hey.” He stretched and rolled out of Derek’s embrace onto his back.  
“You sleep okay?” The older man asked.  
“Yes, thank you.”

They drove the remaining three hours in one go and checked into a motel first, so they could spent the rest of the day without worrying about anything. Derek booked one room with two beds again, like he had the whole time he had been alone with Cora.  
“Why did you only get one room?” His sister asked accusingly.  
“I can’t do this again.” He said heaving his bag from the car.  
“What?”  
“I won’t keep listening to him having nightmares.” He pointed at the boy, his voice angry.  
Stiles had flinched back and was stopped by the car behind him. “Are you…sending me home?” He asked in a small voice, staring at the older man wide eyed.  
“What…? No. Why would you…?”  
“You just said…”  
“That we’re not sleeping in separate rooms. You have nightmares when you’re alone, so you won’t be alone.”  
“Oh…” He didn’t notice his hands were shaking and Cora was right there hugging him.  
Derek huffed and put their bags into the room. He came back to the teens still hugging, at least he wasn’t shaking anymore.  
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Derek said quietly.  
Stiles nodded slightly and pressed a light kiss to the girl’s cheek. “Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome. I could get used to getting a kiss for a hug.” Derek was growling lowly behind her.  
“Ready to hit the town?” She didn’t let herself get off track, just because her male companions had a slight flair for the dramatic these days. Both nodded though. It was warm and sunny, so Cora had thrown on her new dress, flowing in the light breeze. After wandering the city center for a couple of hours they found themselves a nice park with a lake where they spread the blanket. Derek was basking in the sun and Stiles got to play with Cora’s camera for a while.  
“Derek.”  
“Hm?” He turned his head slightly peering at the boy with one eye.  
That’s when Stiles pushed the trigger, taking a picture from his position lying beside the older man.  
“Seriously, will you two stop taking pictures of me.” The werewolf growled annoyed.  
“No.” None the less he had found a new victim in Cora, who was coming back with ice cream and a flowing dress to her side. He inspected the picture on the display.  
“She’s beautiful.”  
Derek turned onto his stomach and watched her coming as well and looked at the picture Stiles was showing him.  
“She is.”  
“Seems to run in the family.” He whispered and looked into Derek’s eyes.  
“You have nothing to complain about either.” He looked at the picture again and then back at Derek. “Did you just call me beautiful?”  
“Sounded like it.” Cora piped in.  
“I believe I did.”  
The girl handed them the ice cream and sat down between them. “Show me.”  
The younger teen did and she was impressed. “Nice shots. You know it does run in the family.” She smirked at her brothers glare. “You have good taste.” She whispered into Stiles’ ear conspiratorially, to which he blushed a little.  
Later they lay side by side watching the sky, the occasional cloud and bird. Cora poked Stiles awake, when her brother had gone to get some food.  
“You should make a move.”  
“Hm?” He let out a confused grumble, not quite there yet.  
“And soon.”  
“What are you talking about?” He groaned.  
“My dear brother, of course.”  
“No.” The determination surprised her.  
“Don’t be a coward.”  
“I’m not. I just can’t.”  
She grabbed his jaw in one hand and forced him to look at her. “YOU need him.”  
“Yes, but I can’t do that to him. I can’t depend on him. He has to take care of himself for once.”  
“He can do both. He is capable you know. He can be himself and be there for you.”  
“He’ll just come back and be miserable again.”  
“We wanted to come back soon anyway.”  
“You did?” The human didn’t quite believe her.  
“He’s better. We’re better and Beacon Hills is home after all.”

They had left it at that and didn’t talk further about the subject, but enjoyed their trip. Derek and Stiles shared a bed and Stiles didn’t have nightmares again and they didn’t mention the closeness that resulted from it. They had stopped in Colorado Springs and Santa Fe and at the end of the first week they were in Phoenix. Somehow they always managed to find a nice park to be lazy at, which they also did Saturday afternoon. Suddenly Stiles’ phone went off, which it only had done a few times all week and it had always been his father. So he only briefly glanced at the caller ID, before he answered.  
“Yeah?”  
Only when his friend spoke did it register, that the ID had said ‘Scott’ and groaned internally, as the other boy explained, what he needed researched.  
He sighed and said, “No.”, before he hung up.  
Derek stared at him strangely.  
“I don’t have internet anyway.” He tried to brush it off.

After dinner, as they waited for their dessert, Stiles started to play with Derek’s fingers absentmindedly, while he talked to Cora about the movie they had watched earlier. He tangled and disentangled their fingers, brushed his pads over the older man’s knuckles and digits, until the waitress brought the ice cream.  
She looked disgustedly at the young men and their joined hands. “You are a disgrace.”  
Stiles looked up, startled. “Excuse me?” His gaze flicked to the werewolf for a moment, who had the scariest expression on his face, he had seen in a long time.  
“What you are doing is an affront in the eyes of god.” She elaborated.  
The human snorted loudly. “What god, lady?” Stiles didn’t remove his hand from Derek’s, somehow he had developed a fascination for the older man’s hands and he let him. The waitress shuffled off.  
As they stepped out of the diner, Stiles’ phone rang again. “I said no, Scott.” He shoved his cell back into his pocket angrily.  
Later that night Stiles sat on the bed and watched Derek, as he went through his bag, only a towel around his hips, since he had just come out of the shower, now occupied by his sister. Stiles lay his hand between the wolf’s shoulder blades over the tattoo. Derek slightly leant into the touch.  
“Stiles?”  
“Just…”  
He hesitated and at that moment two things happened, Cora came out of the bathroom and Stiles’ phone went off again. Before he could move, the girl vaulted over her bed and grabbed it.  
“Take a fucking hint, Scott.” She growled into the phone and disconnected the line.  
Both men stared at her, stunned.  
“What? Alpha or not, he’s annoying. And he doesn’t get to use you, when it’s convenient and ignore you the rest of the time.”  
“That will certainly get a reaction.” Stiles stated flatly. “And not a fun one.”  
“I don’t care. He doesn’t get to treat you like that anymore.”  
“Thank you.”  
Derek finished getting dressed and slipped under the blanket with Stiles who had already curled up under it. When the lights were out the human shuffled closer, which he had never done before. The werewolf twitched slightly at the touch. Stiles slid his flat hand over Derek’s side. He sighed and turned around to face the boy.  
“Everything alright?” He asked quietly.  
“Yeah, I just didn’t want this mess, while I was with you.”  
“It’s okay.” He decided he didn’t care anymore and pulled Stiles into his arms.  
“Finally.” Cora commented on their change of position.  
“Shut up.” Derek growled without any heat and Stiles ducked his head, pressing his face into his broad chest. The wolf in turn nuzzled his neck, breathing in the others scent deeply.  
“Guess we do need two rooms after all.”  
“Cora.” Derek groaned and Stiles giggled. “Oh, this is funny?”  
“A little bit.”  
“Sleep Stiles.” And he did.

Derek woke to the noise of Cora’s exceedingly annoying camera. He just opened his eyes, unmoving, looking straight ahead and his sister pushed the trigger again. He had almost buried the boy under his own body, left leg over his hips, half his body over the younger man’s torso, his head resting on his chest and his arm over his stomach. The werewolf sighed a long breath and removed himself from the human, sitting up.  
“It’s early.” He said and pulled his hands over his face.  
“More time in the city, as soon as he gets up.” She pointed at Stiles.  
“’m up.” Said human mumbled.  
“She keeps taking pictures of us.”  
“Us?” He opened his eyes blearily.  
“You and me. Us.”  
Cora showed him.  
“Wow. I need those, please.”  
“What? You gonna frame them?”  
“Maybe. They’re really good.”  
“True.”  
“Say, I know we wanted to do more city today, but do we want to do that all day or are we going to move on today?” The girl inquired.  
“I don’t know. Vegas, right?”  
“That was the plan, yes.” Derek answered and looked down at him. “You okay with that?”  
“My dad would have an aneurism if I told him we’re going to Las Vegas.”  
“He’s not getting a postcard from there then.” Derek smirked.  
“Guess not. To answer your question, I’d like to get there today.”  
“Then it’s settled.”  
They had just started the trip of the day, when Derek’s phone rang. Him and Stiles were in the jeep again, while Cora drove the SUV behind them.  
“Yeah?” He wasn’t going to give the alpha anything voluntarily.  
“Hey Derek, it’s Scott.”  
“Hello Scott.” He greeted him flatly.  
“Is Stiles with you?” Right to the point.  
“Why would he be with me?” Stiles raised an eyebrow beside him, deflecting was usually his specialty.  
“I think Cora answered his phone yesterday.”  
“You THINK my sister answered his phone and assumed he was with ME? How does that even make sense, Scott?”  
“No, I know it was Cora.”  
“So?”  
“Where is he?” Scott actually sounded concerned now.  
“Why would I know that?”  
“Aren’t you with Cora?”  
“Not currently.”  
The younger wolf made a frustrated noise and Derek realized, how long he had managed to keep stone walling Scott, so far.  
“Did you try calling him again?” Stiles threw him a look and he shrugged, worth asking, even if he already knew the answer.  
“No, he hung up on me twice already.”  
“I’d say, he doesn’t want to talk to you.”  
“But I don’t know why.”  
“You don’t?”  
“No, I just asked if he could do some research, he said no and hung up.”  
“And you have no idea why?”  
“Not really.”  
“Have you called Cora and maybe asked her?”  
“I don’t have her number.”  
“That would have been handy. Sorry I couldn’t help you. Bye.” He turned to Stiles. “Why did you keep him around for so long?”  
“He wasn’t always like this and I wouldn’t have met you.”  
“By the way, how easy is he to put off track?”  
“As you can see, very. You didn’t answer even one of his questions. Did you take lessons?”  
“I think I spent too much time with you.” The werewolf smirked, with a twinkle in his eyes.  
“I didn’t know you were so talented, I would have taught you sooner.”  
The older man had just taken a breath to answer, when Stiles’ phone interrupted him. Before the teen could do anything he grabbed it and took the call.  
“Yes?”  
“Where are you?” Scott bellowed into the phone, not noticing it wasn’t Stiles.  
“About a mile farther, than last we spoke.”  
Stiles couldn’t help the chill he felt at Derek’s cold voice of tone.  
“Derek?” Scott asked completely confused.  
“Yes, Scott.”  
“Why do you have Stiles’ phone?”  
“I don’t HAVE his phone, I just answered it.”  
“Why?”  
“He’s driving and shouldn’t answer while doing so. And of course he doesn’t want to talk to you.”  
“Why did you lie?”  
“I didn’t, I just didn’t answer your question.”  
Scott sighed frustrated. “Is he with you?”  
“He is.” Derek lay his hand on the back of Stiles neck and started to draw random patterns on his skin with the tips of his fingers.  
“Why?”  
“Cora asked.”  
“So he just drops everything and leaves?”  
“What exactly did he drop? It sounded like he had nothing better to do anyway. And how worried can you possibly be? He’s been with us for over a week now.” He was angry and suddenly heard Stiles gasp beside him. He jerked his head around to see what was wrong.  
“Claws.” Stiles whispered and glanced sideways at him for a second.  
He noticed the nails of the hand at the boys neck had grown long and sharp. He retracted the claws and soothed the pale skin with his soft pads again.  
“He…What?”  
“And he won’t be available for another week.” He put the phone back on the console. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hurt you, right?” He tried to see the other side of Stiles’ neck.  
“No, just startled. Thank you, by the way.”  
“My pleasure. Is this okay?” He squeezed his neck gently.  
“Yeah.” Stiles had turned his attention back to the road and nodded curtly. “Keep the claws in check, though.”  
“I’m…”  
Stiles interrupted him. “Don’t apologize, just keep the claws away from my neck.”  
“Okay.” Derek agreed quietly, but kept caressing the slender column of bone and muscle.  
Once again they stopped at a motel first, booking one room for two nights. They put their bags in the room, freshening up a bit and got on their way into the city. Cora had made Stiles buy some nice clothes to go out, which he had put on now. Derek smiled appreciatively, when the boy stepped out of the bathroom.  
Cora was equally appreciative of his attire. “Nice.”  
“You think so?”  
“Know so, I picked it out.” She grinned at him and got a smile in return.  
Before they could go his father called.  
“Hey, dad.”  
“Hello, son. Everything okay with you?” The sheriff sounded slightly concerned.  
“Yeah, why?”  
“Scott was just here and he was very agitated and demanded to know where you are.”  
“That is exactly why you don’t know, so you don’t have to lie.”  
“How are you, though?”  
“I’m good. I’m really good. I can breathe again and I don’t feel like I’m being crushed anymore.”  
“Derek and Cora still okay with you being there?”  
“Yes, dad. If I didn’t have to go back to school I’d stay with them.”  
“But you are coming home next week, right?”  
“Yes, dad, of course I’m coming home.”  
“Good, that’s good. Have fun.”  
“I will. Bye dad.”

Cora insisted on a club, since Stiles wouldn’t get into a casino. She enjoyed the music, the people, the whole atmosphere. Soon she was on the dance floor, mesmerizing a lot of men around her. Derek and Stiles were nursing their drinks at a small table. The two men barely spoke, but looked at each other a lot. When Cora couldn’t take their staring anymore, she dragged the younger teen onto the dance floor with her, because she knew her brother wouldn’t come. Stiles let himself be guided by the girl, adopted her movements and soon danced alongside her, taken over by the rhythmic music. For the most part Derek just enjoyed himself watching the two teens. He diverted any attempts on people approaching him by scowling at them, when he sensed someone coming too close. Stiles on the other hand, had apparently become especially interesting to a guy a little older than Derek and Derek didn’t like it, or specifically his wolf didn’t like it. At all.  
So when the guy became increasingly handsy the werewolf got out of his comfortable seat and approached the boy. His movements were fluid and he easily avoided other people with the grace Stiles was sure only a werewolf could muster, as he saw him in the corner of his eye. He danced on none the less turning his back again. The man in front of him was very close, completely in his personal space, but right that moment he didn’t mind all that much. He had fun. Cora was dancing with nobody in particular a few feet away, obviously also enjoying herself.  
A moment later Stiles was grabbed around the waist and roughly pulled backwards. The touch of the hand and the body he slammed into were familiar by now and he melted into Derek’s solid form.  
“Hey, handsome.” Stiles greeted him when he caught his breath.  
The guy just huffed and turned away to find somebody else, while Derek turned his glare into a soft expression as he lowered his face to look into Stiles’.  
“I was just dancing Sourwolf. But you’re right, I need a break.” He let himself be pulled from the floor into their corner and slumped against Derek’s side. He took the older man’s half full beer bottle and sipped at it until it was empty and Derek ordered a new one. A little beer wouldn’t hurt the kid. He traced circles over the inside of Stiles’ wrist with his thumb. Stiles snatched the new beer from Derek as well, after his first gulp and finished it rather fast.  
“Hey.” Derek breathed into his ear.  
“I’m alright, just tired.”  
“Should we go?”  
“Yeah.”  
They made it through the crowd, with Stiles leaning heavily against the wolf.  
“Cora, you coming with us?”  
“I’ll stay for awhile.”  
“See you later.”

The werewolf barely got the teen out of the car and into their room, dropping him unceremoniously on the bed.  
“Can you at least change yourself?”  
“Yeah.”  
Derek went to the bathroom, but when he got back into the room Stiles had only managed to get his pants down to his knees and to unbutton his shirt. The older man sighed and shook his head lightly, moving to the bed.  
“You still awake?”  
“Hmmm…”  
The wolf huffed and pulled the jeans off completely, then his socks.  
“Come on, you have to sit up, if you want to get your shirt off.”  
Stiles stared up at him from half lidded eyes. He wriggled his fingers to get the other’s attention. Derek pulled him up by his hands and moved close to slip the shirt off, their faces almost touching. The human made contact by leaning his head to the side, pressing the side of his face to Derek’s and his freed hand snuck up to his neck.  
“Stiles?” Somehow it had become a habit for Derek not to ask the actual question he wanted an answer to, but only to use the younger man’s name.  
“Will you kiss me?”  
Derek leant back a little to be able to look into Stiles’ face. “Do you want me to?”  
“I…think so?” He scrunched up his face. “Do you want to?”  
“I think so.” Who said Derek Hale wasn’t funny, when he wanted to be. Only this time, Stiles exhausted condition earned him a frown.  
“Did you just mock me?” He couldn’t keep himself up, so he fell back down, when the older man moved away to undress himself down to his boxers.  
“Maybe.” He answered with a grin.  
“No fair, I’m too tired.”  
“Maybe you shouldn’t have started a conversation like that, then.”  
“I didn’t start a conversation, I only wanted you to kiss me.”  
“Why didn’t you say so?”  
“I did.” Stiles looked confused, he really was too tired for this.  
“You asked.”  
Derek moved onto the bed again, on his knees and hands, hovering above Stiles.  
“Please?”  
The werewolf brushed their lips together for a second. “Like this?”  
“Nooo…” Stiles whined quietly.  
“Not?” It was immensely amusing, when Stiles was defenseless.  
Derek pushed himself up a little more and the boy made sluggish grabby hands at his face to try and keep him close. He made another strangled whining noise, when he couldn’t reach. The wolf chuckled and leant down again, to let Stiles touch him. The teen hooked his fingers lightly under his jaw and Derek gave into the pull to meet Stiles’ lips with his own, this time in a gentle elaborate kiss, tasting the younger man carefully and then deepening the kiss, when he ran his tongue over his bottom lip to coax them apart. Stiles opened his mouth with a sigh. Their tongues dueled for a while, a losing battle for the boy, who surrendered to the man. In fact he surrendered entirely to the wolf’s control. A moan slipped past his lips, when Derek ground his hips into his own and he keened into the body above him. He ran his hands up Derek’s sides and placed his palms on his back. Stiles pushed his hips up. The werewolf groaned at the sensation and suddenly stiffened.  
It took the boy a moment to notice. “Derek?” He retrieved one hand and lay it on the older man’s face, tracing his lower lip with his thumb. “What is it?”  
Derek growled softly and opened his eyes, revealing his wolf’s electric blues.  
“Hey, it’s fine. Come here.” He pulled Derek down again and hooked his ankles behind his back. “You won’t hurt me.”  
As it was his first time it did hurt, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle and the pleasure far exceeded the pain he was feeling. Later, or as the hour would suggest early, Stiles lay sated burrowed into Derek’s side, his head resting on his chest.  
“That was amazing.” Stiles kissed the patch of skin he could reach from his position.  
A chuckle rumbled low in the wolf’s chest. “Yes.”  
They slept for a few short hours, until Cora crashed into the room at eight and startled them awake.  
“Wow, whew. Come on boys, breakfast. I’ll wait outside.”  
The human groaned. “How is she that chipper this early in the morning?”  
“She hasn’t slept yet. Come on, we shouldn’t make her wait too long.”  
“We should at least shower, though. Ten minutes, Cora.” He saw her shadow wave outside through the curtain.  
“Finally.” The girl smirked.  
Dry and clean they stepped outside fully clothed and Cora hugged them and kissed each on the cheek. She took one man on either side of her and walked them to the diner. After pancakes, eggs and bacon had been devoured the younger wolf stared at the men on the other side of the table.  
“I’m a little surprised, I must say.”  
“Why is that?” Stiles inquired.  
“Yesterday, you were barely touching. One night out and you not only got over yourselves, you immediately went the whole nine yards.”  
Her brother shrugged and Stiles blushed.  
“Hey, at least you didn’t commit a crime, Derek.”  
He frowned.  
“Statutory rape, ring a bell?”  
“He’s eighteen in a few months.”  
“And in Nevada he doesn’t have to be.”  
“I don’t care.” Derek said flatly.  
“The sheriff might.”  
Stiles furrowed his brows. “What is this, Cora? First you push us together and now you want us apart?”  
The girl quickly grabbed his hands and squeezed them. “No. God, no. I was trying very unsuccessfully to make a bad joke. I’m sorry.”  
“Jeez, take some lessons. And dad won’t care, he practically pushed me out the door.”  
“Yeah, I doubt he had the two of you hooking up in mind.”  
“Was something in the food or is this just you being tired, because I’m this close to punching you.” He held his fingers about an inch apart. “And I know I’m only gonna hurt myself.”  
Derek was uncharacteristically apathetic towards the subject.  
“I’m sorry. Sorry. Sorry.” She had left her seat, grabbed Stiles’ head and placed a few kisses along his forehead.  
“Derek do something, your sister is molesting me.”  
The older man chuckled. “Go get some sleep and call if you want us to come get you.”  
“I see, I’m in the way.”  
“No, but he might actually punch you, if you go on like that.”  
“Don’t be silly, he likes me. But you are right about the sleep thing. See you later.” She smiled down at them and left for the motel, while Derek and Stiles drove up to Lake Mead, since they were at the edge of the city anyway. Stiles loved the lake. It was big and they had found a spot for their blanket overlooking the water. The werewolf was in his usual position on his back and Stiles sat beside him, legs stretched out.  
“Why are you with me?” The boy asked in a small voice, two hours into their lazing around.  
“What?”  
“Why are you with me?” He looked down into the eyes of the older man.  
“Because I have an infatuation with you, I don’t seem to be able to shake.”  
“Why did you want to?” Stiles asked hesitantly.  
“You are too young to be stuck with me and I’m no good for anybody.”  
“You are the only thing that keeps me from falling apart and it’s a little late for that consideration, don’t you think.”  
“I know.” Derek pulled him on top of his body.  
“So…?” He stretched the word out.  
“I don’t care anymore.” The werewolf pulled him down to kiss him.  
“When did you become so zen?” The teen asked when they detached their lips.  
“Being away from Beacon Hills helped.”  
“You sure, you wanna come back?”  
“I have a reason to come back now.” He smiled.  
“Derek, please don’t just come back because of me. That is exactly what I didn’t want.”  
“We were circling back anyway. But you are a good reason to come back a little sooner than we had planned.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yes, Stiles. Somebody needs to keep an eye on you.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
Derek flipped them, so he was the one staring down at the other now.  
“You need somebody to take care of you too sometimes.”  
Stiles tried to look away, which was rather difficult with the wolf so close.  
“You always take care of everybody else, let me take care of you for once.”  
“You’ve been doing that.” He snaked his arms around Derek’s neck and pulled him into a tight embrace.  
“Then let me continue doing so. It’s something I can do.” The wolf whispered into his ear.  
Stiles squeezed his eyes shut and nodded against the side of Derek’s head. His breathing had become heavy and came in short huffs, as he tried to calm himself. The older man lifted his weight off of him without moving away.  
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m coming home with you.” He moved far enough to look into Stiles face. “Can we please enjoy the rest of our trip.” He nudged Stiles’ nose with his own. “You’re here to relax, Stiles.” He continued whispering.  
“And I want to, I just…”  
Derek flipped them again, so Stiles could relax into his body, laying his head on the older man’s chest. The teen fell asleep a while later. Derek continued to stroke his back gently. Cora had texted at some point to ask where they were and had decided to come on foot rather than making them get her. Half an hour later the girl came down the grassy slope and lay down beside them silently.  
“He been asleep long?”  
“Awhile. The whole Scott thing threw him a little and he’s struggling with us coming home.”  
“Shouldn’t he be happy?” His sister asked incredulously.  
“He thinks we’re just coming home because of him. Me anyway.”  
“I told him we were planning on coming home soon.”  
“So did I.”  
The boy slept through their quiet conversation.  
“You going out tonight again?”  
“I was planning to. It was fun. You coming with?”  
“I’ll let him decide.” He never stopped his soothing ministrations.  
“How are you this calm? He's a mess…”  
“And I’m not? He helps me just as much as I help him.”  
“So, no more second guessing whether or not you should be with him?”  
“No, I’m done.”  
“Good. You deserve it.”  
“Are you really okay with going back?”  
“Oddly enough, I am.”  
“You sure?”  
“It’s home.”  
“Yeah.” He hugged Stiles closer to his body, nuzzling his head.  
Stiles woke to that and still dazed pressed his lips to Derek’s in a sloppy kiss. When they separated the wolf stroked his face and looked into his eyes.  
“Hey, you back from dreamland?” He asked and smiled.  
“Yeah.”  
The moment he leant down and his lips pecked Derek’s nose, he heard the all too familiar noise of the shutter beside them.  
“Really, Cora?” He tried to glare at the girl, without succeeding.  
“You make it too easy.” She grinned widely.  
Stiles slid off Derek to lie between the Hales on his back. Staring up at the sky he sighed.  
“This is nice.”  
It continued to be nice for a few more hours, until his growling stomach disrupted the peace and they made their way to a little Chinese place to eat.  
“Do you want to go out again?” Cora asked over her fried rice with chicken.  
“Yeah. Derek?” He looked up from his own food to the older man.  
The werewolf shrugged. “It’s okay.”  
“Yeah?”  
“As long as you don’t expect me to dance with you.”  
“That’s what Cora is for.” Stiles grinned from ear to ear.  
“I’ll hold you to that.” The girl replied.  
“You do that.”

So she did. The two teens danced for several hours together, not taking any other offers. When Stiles was all danced out he slumped down beside Derek, breathing and heartbeat quickened, slightly sweaty. He drained Derek’s beer again and leant into his side.  
“We gonna go back to the motel?”  
Derek raised his eyebrows at the mischievous grin of the younger man.  
“I like how you think.” He nipped at Stiles’ neck.  
“Guys I’m gonna stay, so you have free reign.” She winked at them and was gone.  
The wolf dragged the human out of the club with a predatory grin on his face.  
He all but threw Stiles onto their bed and slammed the door closed behind them, before he jumped on top of the teen. Clothes were removed in record time and Derek ravished him, letting his animal side go.  
“Wow.” Stiles panted, lying sated beside Derek.  
The werewolf just grinned at him.  
“I think we should shower.” Stiles suggested when his breathing had leveled.  
“Maybe we should…”  
They did and Stiles learned a great appreciation for shower sex in the process. As they got dressed and snuggled into bed Cora came back, changed into her pajamas and instantly fell asleep.  
Derek was disturbed in his sleep, by Stiles hectic movements beside him, but didn’t fully wake up, until his right hand landed on his bare chest, his noises got louder and he sat up with a strangled tortured scream. Both werewolves slowly sat up and looked at the boy.  
“Stiles…” Derek whispered his name, not to startle him. He didn’t dare reach for him.  
Cora turned her bedside light on and gasped quietly at the humans state. Stiles was heaving and crying, covering his face with his hands. It sounded like he was trying to scream but couldn’t, due to his restricted air flow.  
“Stiles.” Derek tried again, this time touching his wrist and prying it from his face. “Hey.”  
The boy looked completely broken, when he let the other hand sink as well and whined desperately. He had seen the blood on his fingers where he had scratched Derek’s chest.  
“It’s already gone. It’s fine.”  
Stiles threw himself into Derek’s body and cried into his shoulder.  
“Do you remember anything?”  
The teen shook his head against his neck and his sobs broke Derek’s heart. His sister came back from the bathroom with a wet cloth to wipe the blood from Stiles fingers and Derek’s chest, where he had literally clawed at him.  
“You think you can go back to sleep?”  
“No.” He burrowed deeper into Derek. He leant back against the headboard and let Stiles curl up between his legs. Cora kissed the humans cheek and went back to her own bed, not minding the light from their side of the room. The wolf’s hands kept roaming the boy’s body in soothing motions.  
“You’re save here.” Derek whispered into his ear.  
It took Stiles over ten minutes to even his breathing. The whole time it seemed he tried to crawl further into the werewolf. To accommodate him Derek hugged him as close as possible. Neither of them slept until seven, when Cora woke again.  
“Hey.”  
“Is it time to get up?” Stiles croaked from Derek’s chest where he had buried himself.  
“Yes.” She looked down at them. “Was he always this adorable?”  
Her brother snorted. “No, mostly just annoying.”  
Stiles bit at his bicep in response, just because it was the only spot he could reach.  
“Ow. Stop it.” He moved his arm away and kissed the boys temple. “Can you go get some breakfast?”  
“Yeah sure.”  
“You really can’t remember anything?” The werewolf asked when the girl had left.  
“No…or maybe I don’t want to.”  
“It’s okay. I thought it might help.”  
“You’re helping.” He stretched up and kissed Derek.

In the middle of frickin’ nowhere, in the desert, halfway to LA, Derek got flagged down by a police cruiser. He stopped the Toyota, Cora was driving the Jeep, which she stopped a reasonable distance behind the police car, with Stiles fast asleep beside him. The teen had slumped against the window. The older man lowered his window and watched the woman come towards him, while her colleague eyed the blue jeep.  
“Hello, what seems to be the problem?” Derek had removed his sunglasses and had his papers in the middle console.  
“Routine check, Sir. License and registration please.”  
“Of course.” He handed her the papers.  
“You know the young lady in the jeep?”  
“My sister.”  
She signaled her partner to check the Jeep and looked back into the Toyota. “What about him?”  
“A friend.”  
“Can you wake him?”  
“Sure.” He leant over the middle console to touch the teens shoulder gently. “Stiles, hey.”  
Stiles woke with a start and an accompanying violent flail of his arms, almost hitting Derek in the face, if he hadn’t caught his wrist.  
“Hey, hey. It’s just me.”  
The boy exhaled slowly and scanned their surroundings carefully. “Why’d we stop? Oh.” He blinked at the woman in uniform at the window.  
“Can I see some ID?”  
“Yeah, sure.” He pulled his wallet out and gave it to her. “You need the papers for my Jeep, too? Cora doesn’t have those.”  
“Yes, please.” He handed them to her and she went back to the cruiser.  
Stiles leant back in his seat and sighed. “Why did you have to wake me? Sleeping is nice.” He whined.  
“Sorry.”  
A few minutes later the cop came back and handed them their papers. “Any particular reason, why you don’t drive your own vehicle?”  
“I didn’t sleep last night and didn’t feel up to driving.”  
She nodded with a tight smile. “You headed home Mr. Stilinski?”  
“Not yet. Is there a problem?” He asked cautiously. No need to piss off a cop.  
“Just making sure everything is in order.”  
“Just a road trip with my friends, completely sanctioned by my sheriff dad.”  
“Okay. Have a nice trip.”  
“Thank you.”  
“That was easy. I thought she was about to arrest me.” Derek muttered when he got back on the road.  
“Well, you still have that murderous look about you.”  
“I do not.”  
“Kinda do dude.”  
“Oh shut up and go back to sleep.”  
“Now I’m awake.”  
“Great.”  
“Jerk.”  
“I know.” He briefly glanced into the rearview mirror at his sister. “Can we drive the rest of the way without stopping?”  
“Sure thing.” She answered him.  
“You good?” He looked at Stiles for a moment.  
“Yeah. Maybe I do get some more sleep.” He sighed and got comfortable.

They parked at a cliff outside of LA where there were very little people. Cora and Derek stepped to the edge and breathed the sea air deeply.  
“This is great. Can we go down to the beach.”  
“You go, I’ll wait until he wakes up and we’ll bring our stuff.”  
“Okay.” His sister was gone in a blur, happily bouncing down the trail. Derek was turning back to the car and rounded it. He opened the door silently and watched Stiles’ slack face. Very gently he lay his hand on the side of his neck, stroking his thumb along the younger man’s jawline. Stiles slowly woke with a long sigh and looked up at him. A small smile spread across his face.  
“Hey.”  
Stiles lifted a hand to Derek’s face and the wolf leant into the touch. “Pretty.”  
“I’m not…”  
“You are.”  
Before he could say anything else, Derek shut him up with his lips. When they separated the teen hugged him around the waist and pressed his face into his chest, humming contentedly.  
“You wanna go down to the beach? Cora already went.”  
“Definitely.” Stiles mumbled into the fabric of his shirt.  
Down at the beach Derek spread the blanket and the food on top. Stiles munched happily on a sandwich, leaning against the werewolf’s chest, when his phone rang.  
“Hey, dad.”  
“Everything okay?”  
“Yeah. Why?”  
“Any idea why a deputy out of Baker called me?”  
“Derek’s face.”  
“Excuse me?”  
“I think he had a little too much serial killer on his face this morning.” A soft growl vibrated from the wolf’s chest through him. “But I’m sure you told her that I was allowed to be with him.”  
“I did. And with me being a sheriff, she was satisfied with my answer.”  
“Thank you, dad. We’ll be back Saturday.”  
“Good to hear. We?”  
“Yes.”  
“Derek and Cora are coming back with you?”  
“They are. That a problem?”  
“No, I don’t think so. I’m guessing I’m not supposed to mention that to Scott?”  
“I don’t know.” He looked up to Derek who shook his head. “If you can help it, don’t say anything.”  
“Okay. Where are you?”  
“LA. Our last stop is San Francisco, after that we’re coming home.”  
The elder Stilinski sighed. “Yeah, okay. Love you, son.”  
“You, too. Bye.”  
Stiles leant back into Derek and fell asleep again, after he had finished his food. Cora was fascinated by the waves crashing into the rocks nearby. She came back and dropped down beside them, when she had finished taking pictures.  
“You having fun?”  
“Yes and you are lazing around all day.”  
“For now lazy is good. I think that will change as soon as we’re back in Beacon Hills.”  
“Probably.”  
“And pillow duties are nice.”  
“You’re not going soft on me are you?” His sister smirked at him.  
“No. Can still kick your ass.”  
“Not now.” Stiles mumbled, turning into his chest.  
The older Hale chuckled and let his hand run up and down Stiles’ side. They stayed another hour, before they packed up checked into a motel and went for dinner. The next day they went on a studio tour and to another beach to watch the sunset. On Wednesday they continued to San Francisco. Stiles liked the city, they took the tour of Alcatraz and drove the cable car. On their second day they went to a rocky beach to spent the afternoon and Stiles of course was climbing around some of the bigger rocks and slipped off one of them. He landed with a pain filled cry. Derek and Cora rushed over to him and Derek caught him, when he tried to stand, but his left foot wouldn’t take his weight.  
“Come here.” Derek picked him up bridal style and sat him on their blanket. He carefully squeezed his foot and ankle. Stiles complained about it hurting but didn’t flinch, which he took as a good sign, as it most likely wasn’t broken. They went to the ER for an x-ray none the less. After two hours of waiting and another the x-ray and examination took they got back to their motel with takeout and a whining human, whose foot hurt, had to be cooled and who was hungry. Luckily handing him a container with food solved one problem, a trip to the ice machine solved the cooling problem for his sprained ankle and a warm werewolf nearby who took some of his pain away stopped the whining altogether.  
“This is nice.” Stiles said, leaning against Derek’s chest, putting the rest of his eggroll into his mouth.  
“Are you serious? You not being able to walk a couple of days is nice?” Derek asked exasperated.  
The boy turned his face into his neck. “You taking care of me is…” He whispered.  
The older man sighed heavily. “We’re driving home tomorrow morning.”  
“Noooo…” Again with the whining.  
“Stiles.”  
“Fine.” He had taken Derek’s right hand and started placing small kisses all over it.


	3. Home Again

They passed the ‘Welcome to Beacon Hills’ sign in the early afternoon. Derek and Stiles headed to the Stilinski residence, while Cora made her way through town and into the industrial district to check on the loft. She had just entered the pretty deserted road leading to the building when she noticed the police cruiser behind her and was greeted by a short burst of siren and lights, signaling her to stop. She did and waited. The sheriff looked into the lowered window with surprise on his face, not expecting the girl, but his son driving his car.  
“Cora?” Immediately concerned, he glanced around the interior.  
“Hey sheriff Stilinski.” She smiled at him.  
“Why are you driving the Jeep?“  
"Uh, Stiles drove with Derek and I wanted to get to the loft first."  
"You're back already?" Now he was suspicious.  
"Yes." Her smile distracted him from his original train of thought. "Derek and Stiles went to your house."  
"Okay. You coming by for dinner later?" He asked with a sigh.  
"Sure. Thanks." Though a little confused, she smiled.  
John Stilinski drove straight to his own home. Sure enough the Toyota was parked in his driveway. He pulled in behind it and went into the house.

Derek had helped Stiles onto the kitchen counter, because he refused to be left alone in the living room while he made hot chocolate for them. While they waited for the milk to warm Derek stood between the teens parted legs kissing along his smooth jaw, until he heard the cruiser pull up.  
"Your father is here." He started to pull away, but Stiles curled his hand into his shirt.  
"No stay."  
"But…" The wolf looked a little worried.  
"I'm not hiding anything from him anymore."  
"Okay. But the milk is ready." He pecked the younger man's lips and stepped out of his immediate reach to pour the milk into the mugs and dig around the cabinet for the mini-marshmallows.

John followed the sounds to the kitchen, greeted by the sight of Derek Hale very gently handing his son a mug, with a weird little smile on his face.  
"Hello boys."  
"Hey, dad."  
"Sheriff." Derek nodded in greeting, which the older man returned.  
John took in his sons appearance for a moment. His posture was relaxed, his skin lightly tan, no more shadows under his eyes and his left foot was bandaged. He frowned at that.  
"Is that why you're back already?" He gestured at the offending bandage.  
"Uh, yeah. Sorry. I sprained my ankle."  
"This your fault?"  
Derek didn't have time to respond, as Stiles grabbed his hand and pulled him closer protectively, which was kind of funny, considering him being a werewolf and Stiles being hurt.  
"Of course it isn't. I climbed on a rock and slipped, that's all."  
The elder Stilinski considered them for a moment. "There something else I should know?"  
"Hm?" Stiles didn't follow until Derek lifted their twined hands into his view. "Oh, yeah. This." He just smiled brightly at his father.  
"And that is exactly what?" He wanted to ease himself into the realization that his not so little anymore son had found himself some-one inappropriate to date.  
"We're together…or something." Stiles looked over into Derek's eyes a little insecurely. For all the talking they had done on the trip, they never talked about what it was they were doing.  
"Or something?" The sheriff raised his voice and stared angrily at Derek.  
"We're dating." The dark haired man said calmly, looking straight into the sheriff's eyes.  
John sighed and dragged his hands over his face. "Well, great." He said sarcastically. "I need to get back to work. Stiles lie down and lift and ice your foot. And while he's as unproductive as he can be watching TV, would you be so kind and go grocery shopping, Derek? The list is on the fridge and Cora's coming, too."  
"Yes, Sir."  
"Don't…Just don't. My name is John."  
"Okay."  
The sheriff left with another drawn out sigh.

Derek stepped back between Stiles' thighs. "That went well."  
"Not yet. Believe me, there's more to come. But for now, we're good."  
The wolf placed a lingering kiss to Stiles' lips and stepped to the side, to pick the younger man up. Stiles let him without resistance, let him prop his foot on a cushion and place his mug back in his hands.  
"I believe I'll be shopping."  
"Come here." Stiles kissed him again.  
"I'll be back in a bit." He placed another kiss to the boys temple.

Cora had snuck in while Derek was still out and snuggled up to Stiles on the couch, who had fallen asleep. She was about to fall asleep herself, when her brother came back. He put the bags in the kitchen and came into the other room to check on the two teens.  
"Hey." He kissed them both on the head and went back to the kitchen to put the stuff away.  
Around six John Stilinski came home and they started cooking. They let Stiles sleep.  
"Are you sleeping with my son?"  
Derek nearly choked on his breath and in the process hit his head on the cabinet above him. He threw a panicked look at the older man and just kept staring.  
"So?"  
He couldn't run from this. "I am."  
"Thank you."  
Derek was confused. "For what?"  
"For being honest."  
"Stiles insisted." He admitted.  
"So you would have lied?"  
The wolf didn't blink, while his sister watched in fascination. "I wouldn't necessarily have told you right away. He is turning eighteen soon."  
"And I would appreciate it if your relationship remained private, until then."  
"I think we can manage that."  
"Look I may not like it and I still think it isn't right, that my son is dating a significantly older werewolf, but you seem to be good together. Stiles looks better."  
"It feels right to me." Derek said seriously, never breaking eye contact with the sheriff.  
"You both deserve to be happy, even if I don't like that it is with each other."  
"Derek…" At hearing his name he left the kitchen and the conversation in favor of Stiles.  
John stared after him.  
"Yes, he is more important than your lecture." Cora explained.  
"Good."

Derek carded his hand through Stiles' hair and looked down at him fondly.  
"Hey."  
Big amber eyes stared back at the wolf. He leant down to kiss him long and slow. Stiles slid his hands into Derek's hair, so the older man sank down to his knees between Stiles' legs and deepened the kiss, now covering the smaller body with his own. When they had to come up for air, Stiles rubbed their cheeks together, before he returned to kissing Derek's lips. It was soothing sliding his lips across Derek's, occasionally licking at the older man's lower lip. After awhile he reduced it to pecks on the mouth and then covering Derek's whole face with butterfly kisses. The werewolf had resigned to closing his eyes and just feel the touches. His arms had wandered around Stiles' thin waist and hugged it tightly to his own body. When Stiles let up Derek lowered his head and started rubbing his face on the boys chest and along his neck. The teen in turn massaged his scalp with gentle but firm fingertips.  
The sheriff stopped short of rounding the couch, when he took in the intimate scene before him. He was both shocked and relieved, that the two young men could relax enough in his house, his presence no less, to show their affection for each other.  
"Dinner is ready." The elder Stilinski said quietly.  
Derek removed himself from Stiles' body, kneeling back in front of the furniture. The boy groggily sat up, grabbing for Derek's shoulder to steady himself. The wolf picked him up and sat him back down beside the dining table, which Cora had just finished setting.  
"Couldn't you have picked someone like her?" The sheriff asked, as Stiles finished his plate.  
The siblings regarded him each with one raised eyebrow and a scowl.  
"Wow." Was the only thing that came to mind, when he saw their faces.  
"You mean female?" His son asked with a smirk.  
"No. I'm surprised, but you know I don't care about that."  
"Because that's pretty much the only difference between those two." The scowls turned to him and Cora growled lowly at him. "See?"  
"Okay, I get your point. But Stiles…"  
"What? He's too old, he's a werewolf, he has baggage? What exactly are you objecting to?"  
John sighed heavily. "I guess I'm just very surprised. You left to get away from all this, to get better. And you come back, bringing them with you and Derek being your boyfriend. So, give me a minute."  
"Minute's been up for a while."  
"Stiles." He warned his son.  
"Fine. Better get used to it, though, because I like him. A lot."  
"I got that." His father smiled gently.  
The next moment Derek jumped up and moved into the den where Scott stormed into the house yelling Stiles name. He was totally unprepared for the older werewolf grabbing him by the neck and smashing him into the floor, though. Stiles was pretty sure the whole street had heard the vicious threatening growl. Scott's reaction was a yelp and a groan, he was too surprised. When the shock subsided he fully wolfed out and scrambled to his feet throwing Derek against the wall roaring himself.  
"Stop it!" Stiles yelled at them and hobbled into the den as fast as he could.  
His father was held back by a gentle but firm hand, no need to get him hurt. The scene before Stiles was all fangs and claws and glowing eyes. He lay one hand on Derek's forearm and he immediately returned to human appearance and Scott followed suit. The older wolf moved closer to Stiles while Scott just stared.  
"What do you want, Scott?"  
His friend heaved a steadying breath. "You disappear for two weeks and ask me what I want?"  
"Yes. What is so important you can't deal with yourself? I'm just the weak human, I'm not even really pack, so what do you want?"  
Scott stared at him, mouth hanging slightly open in shock. Isaac trailed through the door tentatively, of course he wasn't far from his alpha.  
"Get him home Isaac." Stiles turned into Derek for support, who guided him to the couch.  
Apparently his statement hadn't been clear enough, because Scott shrugged his beta's hand off his shoulder and followed the pair. Derek growled at him again and Cora and the sheriff came in as well.  
"What happened to your foot?" Scott tried again.  
"Nothing. Leave. I don't want to deal with you right now."  
"But…"  
"Why do you even bother? You only inquired about my whereabouts when I refused to do your stupid research for you, which you could do yourself for once. So leave me alone."  
"Stiles."  
"No. Take your true alpha bullshit someplace else. I've had enough."  
Isaac tugged at his arm again and this time Scott let him and they left.  
"You sure about that?" John asked from behind him.  
"Not entirely, but he needs to get that I'm not just his go-to-bitch, when he needs information." He sighed. "Can Derek stay here tonight?"  
"Yes, you can both stay here. I'm sure you can figure out the sleeping arrangements yourselves."  
"Thanks, dad."  
"Don't wake me in the morning. It's my day off."  
"Okay, dad. Have a good night."  
"You, too."

The werewolves wedged Stiles between them on the couch and they watched a movie, where he was snuggled into the cushions with a blanket. The human fell asleep halfway through the movie and snored softly against Derek's shoulder. He flinched, when Cora poked him awake.  
"Where am I sleeping?" She asked quietly.  
"Guest room." Stiles mumbled.  
Derek picked him up, to carry him to his own room and directed his sister to the unoccupied one. He laid Stiles out on his bed. Delicate fingers undressed the boy down to his underwear, before they removed his own clothes. The werewolf crawled into bed and wrapped himself around his human. He woke up to warm lips trailing wet kisses along his chest and stomach and his muscles quivered, when Stiles nipped his skin.  
"What time is it?" Derek didn't open his eyes, he only felt for Stiles' body, caressing his shoulder, when he found it.  
The younger man stopped his ministrations. "Early." He crawled completely on top of Derek and up.  
The werewolf carded his fingers through Stiles' hair. "How did you sleep?"  
"Good."  
He studied the younger man's expression carefully. "Yeah?"  
"Mhm." Stiles pecked his lips. "I did."  
They heard a light tap on the door. "Come in."  
"I'm hungry."  
"Okay." Stiles gently climbed off his boyfriend and tried standing up, but he wavered slightly and took his weight off it again. Derek instantly had a hand at the small of his back to steady him. "Thanks."  
The older werewolf carried him downstairs, where he sat him on the counter and the siblings received their instructions for the preparation of pancakes, bacon and eggs. Stiles was at least able to prepare the coffee from his position and poured himself the first mug. While Cora made the pancakes, her brother stood before the human. He stroked his face and studied it carefully.  
"I'm good, I promise." He pulled Derek closer to kiss him softly. "Apart from the foot of course."  
"Does it hurt?"  
"Not really. It throbs a little."  
Derek pushed his pant leg up until he had purchase of some skin. He felt for the pain and leeched some of it out. "Better?"  
"Yeah, thanks."  
"Morning kids."  
"Morning." They answered him together.  
"What was that?" The sheriff had seen the black veins on Derek's arm fade.  
"Hm?" Stiles looked at his father questioningly.  
"His arm…"  
"He took a little bit of pain away."  
"You can do that?" The older Stilinski looked baffled.  
"Yes." Derek nodded.  
"But not heal?"  
To that Derek sucked in a sharp breath and looked down on his hands on Stiles' thighs, who covered them with his own. The boy locked eyes with his father.  
"An alpha can, but it will cost the alpha powers and the alpha will revert to a beta."  
"Did I say something wrong?" The sheriff asked confused.  
"Derek saved my life that way." Cora explained.  
"Right. Sorry."  
"Food, guys. It's getting cold." Stiles interrupted the increasingly gloomy mood. He cupped Derek's face and kissed him gently and nudged his leg with his uninjured foot. "Table, now." The distraction and promise of food was always a good way to change the topic, especially with Stiles.  
"Will you be able to go to school Monday?" His father asked, still sipping his coffee.  
"As much as I would love to say no. It's not that bad and I'm sure I'll be able to walk properly on Monday." He answered in played regret. "Not sure about driving though." He added with a wink in Derek's direction.  
"You could have just asked, if I would drive you, you know."  
"This way is much more fun." Stiles grinned brightly at the whole table. "Hey what about barbecue this afternoon?"  
"Yeah, why not. You gonna go shopping for that?" The sheriff asked.  
"We can do it. I have to go to the loft for a bit anyway. On my way back I can get meat and whatever else we need."  
"Okay. Stiles and I can make the preparations here."  
"I wanted to go with Derek." Stiles protested immediately.  
"I'll stay." Cora volunteered with a smile.  
John nodded, but didn't comment.

Derek had carried Stiles up the stairs and deposited him on his bed, while he put his clothes away, most of them in the hamper and one load directly into the washing machine. When he came back the boy was star-fished over his bed with his eyes closed. The wolf couldn't help himself, he crawled on top of him and dragged his nose along his long neck. Derek bit lightly at the artery making the human hiss in surprise. All of their clothes came off fast. After, in the shower, Derek washed him in gentle caresses, while Stiles balanced himself on one foot and held onto Derek's shoulders. As the wolf was about to finish he hooked his left leg on his hip and then lifted the other one as well. With a groan the werewolf gave into a second round of sex.  
"Don't think I don't know how much you like this." Stiles whispered into his ear, when he found his rhythm and Stiles could feel the older man's smile against his neck. Derek left a sizable hickey just above his collar bone and a few smaller ones along the boys chest. Stiles had tried one himself on the thick muscle of Derek's shoulder, but could only enjoy it for a minute before it faded again. They were both still panting, when the wolf gently put his boyfriend back on his own feet, well foot, as he stayed off the left one. With towels wrapped around their hips Derek carried Stiles back out and sat him down on the edge of the bed to put his clothes back on.  
"Hey Derek."  
The werewolf looked up from buttoning his jeans. "Yeah?" He wandered over and carded his hand through the damp strands of hair. Stiles leant into him, his face pressed lightly to his belly. He nipped at the skin, which made Derek twitch.  
"What is it?"  
Before the teen could gather his thoughts the metal door was pulled open forcefully and made him flinch and grab Derek's free hand. The wolf merely turned his head, half blocking the view of the sitting boy with his body as he eyed the local alpha.  
"Why are you back?" Scott asked without greeting.  
"It was time."  
The younger wolf took a deep breath to calm himself and with that took in all the present smells including the pungent smell of the recent sex. "Oh god." He focused on the sitting form. "Stiles."  
"Guess what, not a virgin anymore."  
"I got that." His mood changed from anger to confusion. "Is that why you went? To be with him?"  
"I went to get away from here. None of you cared anyway, Cora and Derek did."  
"I do care."  
"You didn't realize I was gone for over a week and you would have continued to ignore the fact that we hadn't had contact all break, if you hadn't needed something." Despite himself, his voice was calm and even.  
"No…"  
"Yes. You are so absorbed in your new role that you don't notice anything anymore, at least not your puny human best friend."  
"Stiles, please."  
"We have to get going now. We can talk Monday."  
Scott narrowed his eyes, still confused. "Okay."  
When the alpha was gone, Stiles heaved a long sigh. He finished getting dressed and nudged Derek to get them out. Stiles waited in the car listening to music, he cranked up too loud and resting his foot on the dash, while his boyfriend did the shopping. His eyes were closed and he startled, when there was a knock on his door. The window was open, so he stared directly into the face of one Lydia Martin.  
"Hey." Stiles smiled at her.  
"Hey yourself. What are you doing in Derek's car?" She inquired.  
"Waiting for him, obviously."  
"He's back?"  
"We are."  
"Cora, too?"  
"Yes. We are getting the groceries for the barbecue later. Well, Derek is. I have to stay off my foot."  
"You okay?"  
"Yeah, it's just sprained." He patted her hand gently, which lay on the door. "You can come by, if you want?"  
The girl thought for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that." She kissed his cheek and waved as she went to her own car. Stiles closed his eyes again, until he heard the trunk door shut and the driver side door open.  
"What did Lydia want?"  
"Just saw me and said hello. She's coming by later."  
"You sure?" The wolf looked skeptical.  
"Ironically enough she's the only one who didn't ignore me completely, as opposed to the first sixteen years of our lives."  
Derek furrowed his brows. "You still like her."  
"Of course I like her. She's my friend." He grabbed his hand from the steering wheel where his knuckles turned white and kissed the back of his hand. "But not like I like you. Not in a long while."  
The wolf still grumbled as he retracted his hand and started the car to take them home.

True to her word Lydia showed up in their backyard around five, while they were still in the midst of eating. Cora looked up from her deck chair and smiled, as did the sheriff and Stiles, Derek remained neutral. Stiles was also on a deck chair with his foot propped up on a pillow. The banshee ruffled his hair on her way to the table, which made Derek growl. The girl looked surprised and her friend rolled his eyes.  
"Jeez Derek, she's not competition." He beckoned the older man over.  
"Competition?" Lydia asked incredulously, as she looked over and saw Derek leaning over the teen kissing him possessively for a moment. "Definitely no competition to that." She sat down and put some salad on a plate. "So how was your trip?"  
"Successful." Stiles grinned from ear to ear, while pushing his boyfriend back toward the barbecue to flip the meat.  
"I can see that." She gestured her hand between him and the Hale siblings. "You brought them back."  
Lydia winked at him. "And you got yourself a werewolf."  
"I did." He was still grinning maniacally.  
"So where were you?"  
Stiles told her what they had seen and done, with some input from Cora here and there. Derek stayed quiet and let the teen talk. He was still not overly fond of the banshee, but Stiles was and the werewolf had to accept that. A little later John took over the barbecue and Derek lifted Stiles' feet to sit and put them back down in his lap.  
Lydia eyed them after a while. "So how did that happen?"  
Stiles looked up from his plate. "It just did." He stuffed another piece of chicken in his mouth and then cut another one off, which he gave Derek.  
"You don't do things halfway, do you?"  
"No, of course not." His father huffed out a laugh to that shaking his head lightly. "What?" Stiles turned to him.  
Sheriff Stilinski shook his head again. "Nothing. Just, you never did anything halfway." He didn't add, 'like your mother'. Stiles knew that and gave him a small smile.  
They kept talking and laughing until late, when Lydia decided to leave. She hugged Stiles goodbye, well aware that Derek was glaring at her. The girl went on to hug Cora, to Derek's equal displeasure, before she waved at him and the sheriff. After she left Stiles turned to his boyfriend, who hadn't yet reset his facial expression.  
"Will you stop it." He hobbled a few steps in his direction and then lost his balance and fell the rest of the way into his arms. "She's a friend, nothing more." Stiles pressed his face into the wolf's neck and breathed.  
"We'll finish up here, you go ahead to bed." John told them after a minute.  
Stiles turned his head to look at him. "Can Derek stay?"  
The sheriff sighed. "Yes. You wanna stay too, Cora?"  
"Thank you, but I'll go home." She kissed the two younger men on the cheek, before they went upstairs and went back to helping the older Stilinski.

On Sunday Stiles walked again. Tentatively placing weight back on the sprained ankle. It still hurt a little but not so bad he couldn't take it and wouldn't be able to get around at school the next day. He still winced every now and then, when he bent his ankle wrong.  
John Stilinski didn't have many rules concerning the relationship, only that Derek wasn't allowed to stay over on school nights and their being involved stayed private until Stiles was eighteen, which was another three months. Another three months he could pretend his son wasn't head over heels for an equally broken much older werewolf, who seemed to care about Stiles just the same for some inexplicable reason. He still wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the whole situation.  
The sheriff opened the front door for Derek Hale on Monday morning, when he came to pick Stiles up.  
"Come in. He still needs a couple of minutes."  
"Thank you."  
"You want some coffee?"  
"Sure. Thanks." He leant against the counter breathing in the steam.  
"So…" John started, but waited for a reaction. Derek looked over at him with wide questioning eyes. "What are you going to do now?"  
"I'm not sure yet. For now, getting settled here. Cora should get her diploma so she can get into college."  
"And you?"  
"Me?"  
"Do you intend to go to college?"  
"I have a degree in History, minoring in English."  
"Are you going to do something with that?"  
"Like I said, we're getting settled here again and then we'll see."  
"Okay."  
Stiles slowly came around the corner, silent on socked feet. His father didn't hear him, but Derek looked at him immediately, a small smile curling up the edges of his mouth. The teen of course tripped over thin air coming over and fell into the wolf's arms.  
"At least you didn't hurt yourself this time." Derek murmured into his ear.  
Stiles pressed a short sweet kiss on his lips and smiled brightly.  
"Go, before you'll be late. And none of that where people can see you."  
"Yes, dad. See you tonight." He hugged his father and carefully made his way to the door, with Derek in tow to put his shoes and jacket on and leave. But before he opened the door he pulled the wolf in for a real kiss.  
"Boys." The sheriff yelled from the kitchen when he didn't hear them going after a few minutes and they scrambled, Stiles giggling all the way to the car. Derek squeezed his hand lightly before the boy got out of the car.  
"I'll see you later. You're staying for practice to talk to Scott, right?"  
"Yeah, you can pick me up after."

"So, what's the deal?" The alpha asked when they were walking towards the field.  
"Be specific, Scotty."  
The werewolf sighed. "You and Derek."  
Stiles glanced around to make sure nobody was in earshot. "We are together. You already know that."  
"Yes, but why? You didn't even like him when he left."  
"That is not true. We might not exactly have been friends, but we were getting there and we saved each other's lives more than enough. And while neither of you gave a shit, Cora did. She started texting me only days after they left and that's the only thing that kept me sane. When I was with them, it was the first time in months that I could sleep without waking up screaming every night. So whatever problem you have with us being together, get fucking over it, because he's not going anywhere. They are staying, this is home. Maybe you should try getting them into your pack and get your true alpha shit together instead of alienating them further. They can help you. You know that, too."  
"McCall. Stilinski." Coach shouted over to them.  
Stiles sighed and they trotted over. The human handed Finstock his excuse note before he could yell at him further for not having changed. Halfway through Stiles yelped, when he was hugged from behind, Cora hanging over his back and pressing her face into his neck. His flail was luckily minimal, so he didn't hit her by accident or fall off the bench and relaxed into her.  
"Hey." Stiles closed his eyes. "You bring your brother?"  
She pecked his cheek. "No. I was running nearby and thought I stop by. I'm gonna be here every now and then, finishing high school." The wolf pressed closer. "And I wanted to see how you were doing. Get some cuddle time, before Derek occupies you all evening."  
"Don't be ridiculous, you can always have cuddles." He ran his hands up and down her arms. "Are you driving home with us?"  
"Yeah." The younger Hale stayed draped across his back dragging her face over his neck and through his hair, scenting him, every other minute. Stiles just enjoyed the contact and the warmth. He was a little cold, despite the mild weather.  
Cora tightened her grip on him a little. "How did you sleep?" She whispered into his ear.  
"Okay." He leant his head against hers, following the training. "Not as good as when Derek is there, but okay. No screaming myself awake."  
She pressed her lips against his temple and they were both startled by a crash a few yards away. Three of his team mates had crashed into each other staring at Cora. The girl looked at them incredulously as they pulled apart and scrambled back to their feet, while coach Finstock was yelling at them and then staring at Stiles and Cora as well.  
"Something wrong Coach?" The boy asked innocently.  
"Nooo…nothing." He still eyed the girl suspiciously.  
"When's he coming? I'm cold." Stiles asked her quietly, turning his head far enough to push his face into her neck this time.  
"Soon." She murmured into his hair.  
"God, I'm needy." He said a little ashamed of himself.  
"You are allowed." The werewolf sighed. "If anybody, you are allowed."  
"It's still pathetic."  
Cora suddenly perked up. "Come on. Derek is coming."  
"Yay." He took his backpack and they made their way around the field. "See you tomorrow, Scott."  
The alpha waved faintly from across the field and directed his attention back to the game. The pair walked slowly into the parking lot just as Derek pulled in, stopping right in front of them. Cora opened the door for him and Stiles climbed in beside his boyfriend, while the girl got into the back. Stiles squeezed Derek's hand tightly and the wolf tangled their fingers, because he promised the sheriff that he wouldn't do anything in public. But the moment he was out of the car and had rounded it Stiles jumped onto his back, holding on tightly. Derek grabbed his legs to hold him up, while he lay his head on the wolf's shoulder, letting himself be carried upstairs to the loft, where Derek deposited him on the couch. Cora dropped down beside him and Derek made tea. The siblings wedged the human in between them and turned the TV on. The tea warmed him from the inside and the wolves from the outside. Stiles kissed Derek for a little bit before he settled heavily into his side. Soon after that he fell asleep, snoring softly.


End file.
